Welcome to Porchlight International for the Missing & Unidentified. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.

Her name is Jackie Markham. She's one of more than a thousand women reported missing – right now – across Florida. But Markham's case is the only one you'll find on Detective Thomas Reeves' desk.

"I had always wanted to solve the case and give the family a little closure," says Reeves.

And now the Nassau County detective has come out of retirement to give it one more try. 51 year old Jackie Markham disappeared from her Nassau County home December 14, 2000. Police began searching for her right away, but Reeves wasn't assigned to the case for another three months.

"It was almost cold when I got it," says Reeves. And Reeves says it hasn't warmed up any, since. When asked how much evidence there is in this cases, Reeves replies, "Very little, very little." He says Jackie Markham disappeared without any clues to where she went or who she was with. Several boxes are stacked by his desk, full of interviews from her ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers – but so far, no one's been able to shed light on what happened to her.

However, there are two loose ends, Reeves hasn't been able to tie up. Markham's purse was found in a ditch in Jacksonville shortly after she disappeared. Who took it? No one knows. Plus, on the afternoon Markham disappeared, neighbors noticed a black or green pickup truck parked in front of her home.

"I've never been able to identify that truck... I need to eliminate that truck," Reeves says. Or identify it as a new lead in the case. Reeves didn't have that chance before he retired in December 2004. That's why a year and a half later, Nassau's top cop pulled him out of retirement.

"I knew this case was on his mind, and the minute I called him, he has not forgotten about it. He told me that right off the bat," says Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves.

Seagraves decided to re-investigate Markham's disappearance after his detectives solved a three year old murder case earlier this year. Now, he says he needs Reeves 43 years of experience to crack this one. With no blood or fingerprints, Reeves will have to rely on what he does best. Good old fashioned police work.

"I'm just doing it the way I always did. We didn't have DNA when I started," says Reeves.

Reeves says he'll stay on this case until it's solved or until he's done all he can. Then, he'll retire for the second time. But he knows if he has to walk away… "If I ever put it down, I won't be able to forget it," says Reeves. Sheriff Seagraves says you shouldn't either. "This person could still be living here, and if he could do something like this, or she could do something like this, they could do it again," says Seagraves. Reeves says the biggest challenge for him, is that he can't re-examine the scene. When Markham was first reported missing police didn't instantly suspect foul play. So they say they didn't comb through her home as thoroughly as they would have if they thought she was kidnapped or murdered. That means there's a chance some evidence could have been missed.

If you know anything about Markham's disappearance, or if you had any contact with her before she disappeared, call the Nassau County Sheriff's Office at (904) 225-0331. You can read more about this case in the latest newsletter from the Justice Coalition. Pick one up at 1995 South Main Avenue in Jacksonville or log onto www.justicecoalition.org. ###

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

Missing Since: December 14, 2000 from Callahan, Florida Classification: Endangered Missing Date Of Birth: August 29, 1949 Age: 51 years old Height and Weight: 5'6, 150 pounds Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Markham has a brown sunspot on her left arm. Her ears are pierced. Markham's nickname is Jackie. Her previous married name is NeSmith. Clothing/Jewelry Description: A short-sleeved orange shirt with a round collar, denim overall pants, tennis shoes, a pear-shaped diamond ring, an opal ring, bracelets and a watch. Medical Conditions: Markham has high blood pressure and is required to take medication to regulate her condition. She did not have her prescription with her at the time of her December 2000 disappearance.

Details of Disappearance

Markham was last seen at the Eckerd Pharmacy near her residence in Callahan, Florida shortly before 7:00 p.m. on December 14, 2000; she went there to pick up a prescription. She was scheduled to meet her boyfriend, Archie Carroll, for a date later in the evening. Carroll told authorities that she called him just before he left to pick her up at her residence. Markham said that a male acquaintance had arrived at her house unexpectedly and that he had been drinking. Carroll told her that he was still coming over, as he refused to let the other individual ruin their date. Markham agreed, but told Carroll to control his temper. She and the man had disappeared by the time Carroll arrived at her residence. Carroll said that he was initially not concerned, as he thought Markham had driven the other man home to avoid a possible confrontation with Carroll. Markham's vehicle was located in her garage shortly thereafter. Carroll called her family members and the authorities when she did not return by the following day.

All of Markham's personal belongings were located inside of her residence. Her family stated that it is extremely uncharacteristic of Markham to leave without warning. She was scheduled to attend her grandson's birthday party in Tampa, Florida shortly after she vanished, but never called or arrived as planned.

Markham's purse was discovered in a ditch outside of Berman Brothers Inc. on Evergreen Avenue in Jacksonville, Florida sometime after her disappearance. All of her credit cards and identification were found inside her purse, which was located several blocks from a railroad boxcar which served as Ross Lane Emerson's residence at the time. Emerson was eventually charged with the murders of two individuals in Florida and named a suspect in a man's death in Georgia after December 2000. Photos of Emerson are posted below this case summary.

Investigators questioned Emerson regarding Markham's case after he was apprehended. Emerson maintained his innocence in her disappearance. He committed suicide in his jail cell in Florida in October 2001. Emerson stated in his suicide note that he was not involved in Markham's case. Authorities and Markham's family believe that he was most likely telling the truth. Markham's case remains unsolved, but foul play is suspected in her disappearance.

Markham was employed at Cheetah Transportation in Jacksonville, Florida in 2000.

Above Images: Emerson, circa 2000

Investigating Agency If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Nassau County Sheriff's Office 904-225-8984

Source Information Help Find Jackie Markham Child Protection Education Of America The National Center for Missing Adults Rino Kids Online The Florida Times-Union WJXT-TV First Coast Community First Coast News

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

They are Nassau County's five missing, endangered or murdered people, with families still waiting for answers in their cases.

Theresa Maynette Maxwell was 45 when she was last seen Dec. 28, 2002 at Patriot Rentals unit No. 7 on Testone Lane in Hilliard.

However, her disappearance was not officially known until April 2, 2003, when Charles Franklin Gee reported her missing.

In the Nassau County Sheriff's Office incident report, Gee stated that Maxwell had been living with him for several months before she was reported missing. He also said that when Maxwell would get low on money, she would prostitute on U.S. 1 in Hilliard.

It has been several months since any solid leads have arisen in the case.

In 2008, Maxwell's daughter, Heather Land, asked the NCSO to reopen the case, according to Detective John Anstett.

"I also got leads that she had cancer and that she might have gone to a hospital in DeFuniak Springs ... but that never turned up any leads," Anstett said. "She actually scheduled some doctors appointments out there but never showed."

At the time of her disappearance, Maxwell, a white female, was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. She has reddish-blonde hair and green eyes. She also has a scar above the knee on her right leg. She was wearing blue jean shorts, a blue pullover type shirt and black flip-flops. She was born Dec. 18, 1958.

Jackie Markham, 52, was reported missing from her Spring Lakes Estates home at 1399 Hive Lane in Callahan Dec. 15, 2000. She was employed by Cheetah Transportation in Jacksonville.

The Markham family has created a Web site featuring Markham's picture and other information about the mother and grandmother, who had planned a Dec. 16 trip to Tampa for her grandson's birthday celebration.

But two days earlier, a turn of events prevented her from making the trip. She was last seen Dec. 14, 2000, at Eckerd Drugs.

"She had actually come home. She had been to the pharmacy, which at that time was Eckerd Drugs in Callahan," Seagraves said. "She had purchased some stuff there. It looked like she had dinner, washed dishes, cleaned up apparently and left her rings lying up on the counter. Nothing was disturbed in the house."

He added that she had settled in for the evening and parked her car in the garage.

"Everything was just like she disappeared out of the house," he said.

Although Markham has never been found, the investigation continues. A $20,000 reward has been posted for her return.

"I actually had brought (Detective) Tommy Reeves back, who worked on this case for some time, right after I took office (in 2004)," Seagraves said. "He worked up until December. He's kind of worked on this case for like the last three years, and really just hasn't gotten any further with information."

He said that additional information surfaced under Reeves' investigation, but nothing pertinent has come out of it.

"We're still looking for information. If somebody's got it on the case that could be helpful," he said. "We do have some ideas (about) what we feel happened, but nothing that's able to give us probable cause, enough to be able to make an arrest."

Markham had a boyfriend at the time, but no evidence was ever found to lead the NCSO to believe he was involved in her disappearance.

At the time of her disappearance, Markham, a white female, measured 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 160 pounds. She has brown eyes and blondish-brown hair. She was born Aug. 29, 1949.

Two unsolved murder cases continue to perplex authorities.

The remains of Thomas Cone, 41, of Jacksonville, were found on Rayonier, Inc. property near C.R. 108 April 18, 2001.

Jacksonville resident Gerald Anthony Wagers discovered Cone's body. According to the incident report, Wagers said that he was walking southbound on an unnamed road, while hunting. After returning to his vehicle he noticed an odor and found Cone's human remains.

"We don't know if he was killed here, or killed in Jacksonville, but we believe that most of the problems started in Jacksonville," Seagraves said. "We were unable to link him to any place or person in Nassau County."

The investigation is ongoing.

Fernandina Beach murder victim Georgette Lee Stewart, of 1522 Stewart Street, was found dead on the bathroom floor of her trailer home the morning of Sept. 11, 2003.

Family members grew concerned when Stewart, 46, failed to show up at work that day, according to a NCSO incident report. Stewart, an African-American female, was born Dec. 14, 1957.

Henry Stewart, a cousin by marriage who lived across the street, was arrested in the case but was later released, according to Seagraves.

The investigation continues.

"We reopened that case last year and we're actively reworking that case as we speak," he said.

Anyone with information related to these cases should call the NCSO at 904-225-0331.

Windy Gail Dudra Fox, who grew up in Callahan, has been missing since August 2006. Fox was last seen by her former fiancé at Ramona Flea Market in Jacksonville. According to reports, the two got into a fight and he told police he left with friends.

Her mother, Lynette Lanoux, is not convinced that information is accurate. For a July story in the Record, Lanoux said, "In my heart I know Windy, and if she could get to a telephone, she would call me or my sister unless she's got amnesia. My phone number's been the same for 18 years. She knew it by heart."

The case, which is still under investigation with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, remains unsolved.

Anyone with information can contact Lanoux at 879-3997, or the JSO at 630-7292. Anonymous tips can be made by calling 866-845-8477.

kcolgrove@nassaucountyrecord.com

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. -- Investigators said they are using every tool at their disposal to learn if human remains found in the woods of Nassau County are those of a Callahan woman who disappeared nearly nine years ago.

According to the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, two hunters found a human skull and bones last Friday while walking in a wooded area off county Road 119.

Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said it appears the bones are those of a white woman.

"We're going to send this information to Broward County, where they have computer automated system that's is able to reconstruct and rebuild a form of a face figure to the skull itself," Seagraves said.

He said foul play is suspected.

Jackie Markham has been missing since December 2000.

Detectives said they think they know how the woman was killed, but they would not release that information because they said it's too important to their investigation. However, detectives did reveal that they have requested Jacquelyn Markham's dental records to see if they match.

The 52-year-old mother and grandmother disappeared from her Callahan home almost nine years ago.

Family and friends put up flyers all over town hoping someone would recognize Markham and know her whereabouts, but nobody ever did. Now, police are investigating again, but they were quick to point out the bones found in the woods could belong to anyone.

The sheriff said the bones could belong to anyone and that he doesn't want to give Markham's family and friends false hope, but he said after nine years they deserve closure and his agency is investigating.

Nassau County investigators are looking into the possibility that skeletal remains found near Bryceville last weekend could be those of Jackie Markham, a Callahan mother and grandmother who went missing on Dec. 14, 2000.

Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said experts with the Jacksonville Medical Examiner's Office and an anthropology expert are "leaning toward (the remains being) female and Caucasian."

Detectives are working the case as a homicide, Seagraves said. But he cautioned that no positive identification of the bones has been made and a cause of death has not yet been determined.

"It could be anybody, but it could be (Markham)," Seagraves said Thursday morning. "I actually have talked to the Markham family, and of course the missing person from that general area is Jackie Markham, and I'd love to see this lead to some more steps to solving this case for the family ... but even if not, it's still good to re-release the story (of Markham's disappearance) and keep it in the public eye."

Markham would have turned 60 this year; family members have long assumed she is dead, but the uncertainty is torturous for her children.

"She has just enough hope (that her mother is still alive) to make her life miserable," Markham's son-in-law Todd Myrick said of his wife Melissa, Markham's daughter, in a 2006 interview. "Sometimes there will be that one second, in an airport or something, where she sees someone with the same hair or something and thinks, 'Maybe,' but it's never her."

And, Seagraves is quick to caution, this may not be her. With no positive DNA identification, no cause of death ruling, no word yet on how long the remains have been where they were found or when this person may have died, Seagraves said at this point the only thing linking the remains to Markham is the educated guess by experts that the bones are from a white female along with the fact they were discovered on the West Side of Nassau County, in the general area where Markham went missing.

The bones, including a human skull, were discovered at a hunt club in Bryceville April 10 and do show some indication that the death was a homicide, but Seagraves declined to confirm that the indications include a possible bullet hole in the skull.

"The experts need to do some X-raying, at this point, we're looking for everything," Seagraves said. "They're also hoping to be able to get DNA out of the teeth ... they're going to send a description and the measurements of the skull itself, and there's a computer system that's able to maybe reconstruct a face ... they're trying to get an estimate of the height of the person."

Because Seagraves is familiar with the Markham case, and with Markham's family, he admits he hopes the remains are those of Markham, so detectives can go from there to solving the case, and the family can have some closure. The case was re-opened by the sheriff's office in 2006.

Markham disappeared the day before a planned trip to visit her children and her grandson for an early Christmas in December 2000. Her Christmas tree was found half-decorated and covered in cobwebs when her children went to her home to collect her personal items in April 2001, and since her disappearance, her car, her bank account, her cell phone, her name, her Social Security number and her legal name have never been used.

Her family had her declared legally dead so they could sell her Callahan home. Still, Seagraves knows they are hoping for some answers.

"Right now, they don't have anything, any answers," he said. "All they have is memories."

smalcom@fbnewsleader.com

Story created Apr 16, 2009 - 08:01:27 PDT.

Lauran

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

YULEE, Fla. -- A forensic anthropologist has ruled out that human remains found at a Nassau County hunt club earlier this month belonged to a Callahan woman who disappeared nearly nine years ago, but he still has not identified the remains or determined how the person died.

According to the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, two hunters found a human skull and bones April 10 while walking in the Deep Creek Hunt Club off county Road 119.

Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said it appears the bones are those of a white woman and foul play was suspected in the person's death.

"We're going to send this information to Broward County, where they have computer automated system that is able to reconstruct and rebuild a form of a face figure to the skull itself," Seagraves said.

Detectives sent dental records of the missing 52-year-old woman, Jacquelyn Markham, but they did not match.

The medical examiner and a forensic anthropologist from Florida Gulf Coast University continue to try to identify the remains.

Skeletal remains found near Bryceville last weekend are not those of Jackie Markham, a Callahan mother and grandmother who went missing on Dec. 14, 2000, Sheriff Tommy Seagraves said Tuesday.

Seagraves said the Jacksonville Medical Examiner's Office concluded from an evaluation of dental records that the remains, found at Deep Creek Hunt Club, are not those of Markham.

He said the investigation continues to make a positive identification.

Seagraves said last week the remains are believed to be those of a female and Caucasian and detectives are working the case as a homicide.

Markham would have turned 60 this year; family members have long assumed she is dead. She disappeared the day before a planned trip to visit her children and her grandson for an early Christmas in December 2000. Her Christmas tree was found half-decorated and covered in cobwebs when her children went to her home to collect her personal items in April 2001, and since her disappearance, her car, her bank account, her cell phone, her name, her Social Security number and her legal name have never been used. http://www.fbnewsleader.com/articles/2009/...y/web%20wed.txt

Ell

Only after the last tree has been cut down;Only after the last fish has been caught;Only after the last river has been poisoned;Only then will you realizethat money cannot be eaten.

"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth." The late, great Roberto Clemente.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

Oni, a paint horse, nibbles the plastic carrot nose on an inflatable snowman. The 17-year-old gelding lives at the Wilson farm in Hilliard. Photo by Kathie Colgrove

Jackie Markham has been missing 10 years.

Her family still grieves for the loving mother and grandmother who disappeared from her Callahan home. They will spend another Christmas without her as they continue to wait for someone to come forward with new information about her whereabouts.

"It's been 10 years," said Todd Myrick, Markham's son-in-law. "It's certainly been a cold case at this point. Our hope is that somebody who knows has a change of heart of not keeping that secret and coming forth with the information."

Markham, 51, was last seen at the former Eckerd store just after 7 p.m. Dec. 14, 2000. She was scheduled to leave on a trip to visit family in the Tampa area the next afternoon. The grandmother had planned to celebrate an early Christmas and the birthdays of two of her grandchildren. Since her disappearance, two more grandchildren have joined the family, which includes Markham's three children: Scott NeSmith, Melissa Myrick and Lisa Chapnerkar.

"She was there and then she was supposedly heading home and her car was at her house," said Myrick who serves as the family spokesperson. "They think it started at her house. Š We know her car got there."

During the initial investigation, Nassau County Sheriff's Office detectives, under former sheriff Ray Geiger, searched the Spring Lake Estates home but found little physical evidence and no signs of a struggle, Myrick said.

"There really wasn't a crime scene," he said. "She just disappeared."

NCSO Lt. Tommy Reeves was brought in a few months later to investigate, but the investigation yielded few clues and no real suspects. Markham's purse was found months later near an abandoned boxcar on Jacksonville's northside.

The fact that she remains missing has been an emotional hardship on the family who continues to seek answers.

"There's still that hole there, that wound, you know. There's no place to go to mourn her," Myrick said.

He recalled happier times just a few weeks prior to when she went missing.

"The last time we saw her was at Thanksgiving in 2000," Myrick said. "Her frame of mind was very good. She had gotten her house, she had moved from her apartment and had decorated and had all the family there for Thanksgiving."

The family was immediately concerned when they received the news that Markham did not show up for work Dec. 15, 2000, at Cheetah Transportation in Jacksonville where she worked as dispatcher.

"We got a call the next morning by 9 a.m. by her coworkers saying they couldn't get a hold of her," Myrick recalled. "They knew something was wrong."

Within the hour, family members headed to Jacksonville to search for Markham, who Myrick said was always available by cell phone and usually called often.

He added that in the first few weeks of the investigation, family members spent hours driving around Jacksonville and surrounding areas checking garbage cans and ditches for signs of Markham.

"You think about everything - housing developments, checking dumpsters," Myrick said. "We drove around for weeks after this happened. We'd check a garbage bag that was lying in the ditch. The fear now is that a body was taken out to sea or something like that because nothing has turned up."

Because Markham was an adult, an assumption is that she may have left her home at her discretion.

"When someone says 'went missing' the first assumption is that they just walked away," Myrick said. "It's very non-committal. The thing that we saw about the whole thing is a child gets abducted but when it's an adult it's 'went missing.'"

He continued, "It's not like 'poof' they're not around anymore. There's a big reason why the person went missing."

Sheriff Tommy Sea-graves said the case remains an active case although nothing new has surfaced. Reeves came out of retirement to work on the case exclusively from June 5, 2006 through Feb. 20, 2007. Witnesses were again interviewed as Reeves conducted a timeline leading up to Markham's disappearance as a supplement to the original investigation.

"(There was) nothing significant that would lead us to where she was or what happened," Sea-graves said.

He said that these days more time is spent securing and processing crime scenes at the onset of an investigation than was spent in years past.

"Looking at the file, there could have been some things that could have been done differently than they were," Sea-graves said.

He added that policies and procedures and law enforcement training pertaining to missing adults have increased.

"I know it's important for the family to have closure," Seagraves said. "It's got to be frustrating. They only have memories to hang on to. If anyone has any information we would like to know what happened to her - Her whereabouts and what occurred. I would love to know what happened to her to put some closure in the family's life."

Despite expressing appreciation for all the efforts NCSO has done during the initial and subsequent investigations, the uncertainty surrounding Markham's disappearance has left its mark on the family. Myrick said that his mother-in-law was a kind, loving person who went out of her way to help others, often to her detriment.

"The family wants everyone to know that she did matter," he said. "We don't know where she is. We want this solved. We want this to be an end to this chapter. The unknown is so difficult to deal with. We can't explain the ending to grandchildren (with) no funeral, no grave - she doesn't have one. We never found her."

Anyone with any information about Markham's disappearance is asked to call the sheriff's office at 879-1563 or 904-225-0331.